Letter: Civil rights: History plus teamwork results in fairness

Attorney General Charlie CristTallahassee

Published Friday, May 30, 2003

Editor: Over the last four years, the office of the attorney general has been involved in a significant number of cases involving economic crimes. One involved the placing of a selective surcharge on restaurant checks, while another was about selective financial requirements for certain guests staying at a franchise of a national motel chain. Yet another involved a beverage store that required certain customers to be served in a different portion of the establishment.

These cases are obviously much more than economic crimes. They are true cases of discrimination, yet the attorney general was forced to shoehorn civil rights action into statutes involving deceptive trade practices. To his great credit, former Attorney General Bob Butterworth took that creative step in order to stop these improper practices.

It should not have come to that. The U.S. attorney general has the authority to initiate civil rights actions when a pattern or practice of discrimination exists. The Florida attorney general has not possessed similar authority, but that should change soon.

On May 21, the Florida Senate passed the Dr. Marvin Davies Florida Civil Rights Act by a vote of 36-1. The House had passed the bill five days earlier, 113-1. Governor Bush has been supportive of this effort from the beginning.

This is something to be celebrated. The promise of Abraham Lincoln has been fulfilled and the commitment of Gov. LeRoy Collins has been honored with the passage of Florida's most important civil rights legislation in a decade.

On behalf of those citizens who seek only fairness and those who will succeed me in this position of public trust, I thank the Legislature for providing this important tool in fighting discrimination in Florida, especially bill sponsors Sen. Alex Villalobos and Rep. Jeff Kottkamp.

Senate President Jim King and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd deserve a great deal of thanks along with Rep. Ed Jennings and Sen. Rod Smith, as do the many co-sponsors who helped guide this legislation through the process.

The attorney general's legislative affairs office, led by Monesia Brown, and our Office of Civil Rights, led by Allison Bethel, were outstanding advocates.

It was truly remarkable to hear the stories from some legislators who were jailed many years before for peacefully protesting the lack of protection this legislation will provide. Their emotional advocacy, based upon real-life experience, was moving in its own right.

As the Senate began final debate, a small minority of bill opponents expressed fear that the attorney general would have the power to bring charges against people who were merely expressing their point of view on controversial topics. That was never the intent of this bill and it was instructive to remember a wonderful event that occurred more than two centuries ago, back in 1791. That was when the Bill of Rights was adopted, guaranteeing the right to speak, and worship, as one chooses. If anything, this legislation guarantees greater access to these inalienable rights for everyone.

While President Lincoln offered a moral compass, Gov. Collins shined a light on the path. When this office first proposed the legislation in March, the words of LeRoy Collins seemed as appropriate as they were when he wrote them in 1957. When he was in the middle of a civil rights controversy, Gov. Collins wanted everyone to know on which side he stood.